IAN LAVERY MP warns that decades of neoliberal policies have left former industrial communities behind — but a renewed Labour commitment to working people could change the political landscape
School support staff: the oil that keeps education running
Despite caring for vulnerable children and often covering classes, support staff remain undervalued, with some earning less than supermarket workers — but GMB’s campaigning offers new hope, argues DONNA SPICER
School children in a classroom
PAOLO SANTALUCIA reports on how an Italian region defies US pressure to end a Cuban doctors programme
HENRY FOWLER outlines the GFTU’s new 2026-27 education programme and argues that investing in trade union education is essential to building worker power, developing leaders and strengthening collective action
We need a government that invests in saving lives not destroying them, argues SOPHIE BOLT
More expensive by weight than gold, saffron is surprisingly simple to grow. MAT COWARD explains
The public inquiry is the result of more than a decade of determined campaigning. Now, those who fought for justice want the full story of government involvement and police conduct to be told, says KATE FLANNERY
The Durham Miners’ Gala is a celebration of working-class culture, but also a call to action — to rebuild workers’ collective strength, says KIM JOHNSON MP
IT was the summer of 1989. I was 16 and leaving school. This was a time when you could walk out of school and into any job. I left school with no qualifications. I went on to sixth-form college, but I was more interested in the “university of life” and wanted to work.
I did all kinds of jobs, waitressing, shop work, and even delivering newspapers to make ends meet. I became a single mum to two, at a very young age, but didn’t want to live on benefits. When my youngest started nursery school I set out to get a job that fitted around them.
I first volunteered at my children’s nursery, three days a week. While there, I was offered a cover role for a month as a midday meals supervisor — dinner lady to you and me — and this was the beginning of my journey into education.
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